by <unknown>
A small accident happened at the third target. When Han Xiao was placing the document in the study, probably due to the target being too old, he woke up quivering and wanted to pass by the study. Han Xiao hastily hid behind the floor lamp in the corner.
Without looking closely, floor lamps would usually be mistaken as a person and be ignored unconsciously. Although it was a very daring spot to hide, Han Xiao thought it was a brilliant idea. However, the result was completely different from what he expected.
Having woken up in the middle of the night, wanting to go to the bathroom, already being scared while walking in the dark corridor, the old man passed by the book room and mistook the floor lamp for a person, which made him even more nervous. When he wanted to take a closer look and assure himself that he was just being scared of nothing, he noticed… Holy shit! There actually is someone behind the lamp!
The target was an elderly man. He covered his chest and fell straight down.
_____________
You have killed Dick Van Vancity (Lv5). You have received 1 EXP.
_____________
The target was scared to death… to death… death…
Fu*k! Seriously‽
Han Xiao was completely stunned.
I didn’t kill anyone! You suffered from myocardial infarction, I’m innocent!
“Hey, grandpa, wake up. You still have so much youth to look forward to. How can you die like this?” Han Xiao shook the old man’s shoulders continuously, almost shattering his bones.
Accidentally killed the target, what now?
Han Xiao had a headache.
Suddenly, he had a flash of insight, and he had a new idea.
Wait a minute, the fundamental purpose of this mission is to reduce the number of officials that are opposing the project. If they all die, there will be nobody opposing.
…
“Ah-choo!”
Bennett, who was far away at Southern Continent, suddenly sneezed. He had a bad premonition.
“Flu?”
Chapter 187. Accident (2) |
One of the targets died, but the mission did not fail, which meant that killing was technically allowed.
Such an immoral mission. Han Xiao shook his head. He carried the dead body of the old man and put it into the cabinet. The longer it stays hidden the better it is.
He did not want to kill. The targets were all officials of a rather high rank, and killing them would cause a storm in Maple. Thus, there were no benefits, only risks.
One official had died, but it was an accident. They could not count him responsible.
Only one target was left, Dorasi Farami. He had the highest rank of all five targets. His manor was bigger, and the guarding power was stronger.
Han Xiao followed the same steps—he sneaked into the manor through the blind spot and hid in the shadows. None of the patrols could escape his sights.
He sneaked behind an agent and injected a syringe into his neck, then he dragged him further into the garden and changed into his clothes and face. He looked at his identification; the unlucky person this time was called Anguston.
Dorasi’s manor was rather huge. As Han Xiao was going to enter through the window from the back of the villa, the villa’s lights turned on. A command from a superior appeared from walkie talkie.
“All units assemble. Escort the target to the government building.”
All the secret service agents gathered. Now Han Xiao was stuck in a passive position. He replaced Anguston and had to continue playing the character if he did not want to get found out. Left with no choice, he followed the secret service team and assembled in front of the villa door.
The team leader knocked the door and yelled, “Mr. Dorasi, knocked out agents have been found in other officials’ mansions. The enemy infiltrated their homes. You’re not safe here. Please follow us to the government building and take refuge.”
Han Xiao realized it was about time for Maple to have reacted to the people that he knocked out in the previous mansions.
Too bad, just a while more I would’ve completed the last one. Han Xiao sighed. He had to change his plans because of the sudden change of situation. He hoped they would find out later about the old man who was shoved into the cabinet.
The glazed wooden door opened with a squeak. An old man with a straight back in formal wear walked out the door. The wrinkles on his face were like knife scars with vicissitudes and coldness, and his white hair was combed neatly.
Secret service agents surrounded Dorasi as they walked toward the car parked at the door. There were four cars. The one that Dorasi would be sitting in was in the middle, guarded by the three other cars in a triangle shape. Han Xiao sat in the car at the right rear.
As they departed, Han Xiao decided to stay put and observe since it was the best choice.
I could sneak out in the middle of the trip and complete the last mission on the way.
As he was thinking, a few fist-sized shadows flew toward the convoy. Han Xiao knew these were howitzers from one look.
Boom!
The howitzers landed accurately on the chassis of the convoys and exploded. The power exceeded the usual standard, almost like a mini rocket launcher.
Sky-high flames lit up the night. The three guarding vehicles spun in midair and landed bottom up with flames.
“Someone attacked the convoy!” the driver of Dorasi’s car yelled as he hastily stepped on the throttle, wanting to escape with speed, but a few rounds of bullets shot out from the dark and busted the wheels.
The car swirled and stopped at the side of the road. Four disgraced secret service agents got out of the car hurriedly, but before they could even raise their guns, sniper bullets shot from a higher up position hit their chests without missing a shot. They immediately fell to the ground, critically injured.
“All the guards have been dealt with. Backup from Maple will take at least three minutes to arrive. We have more than enough time. Vernina, evacuate with the target,” Hannes said through the walkie talkie.
At the junction of street lamps and darkness, the outline of a woman became clearer. Vernina appeared, holding a grenade launcher. She had short, blonde hair. The wrinkles at the side of her eyes showed she was not very young, but her appearance still had the signs of her beauty when she was younger. Every move she made played the rhyme of a mature lady.
Dorasi walked out of the car. He remained calm and looked at the struggling guards on the floor. “Who are you people?”
Vernina slowly walked toward Dorasi while taking out her handgun and killing the guards on the way. She took out a sedative syringe from her tactical pouch on her waist and said, “Put the gun down, or there’ll be a hole in your heart.”
Dorasi’s expression changed. He looked down and saw a red dot on his chest where his heart was. He immediately loosened his grip on the handgun behind his back. Looking up, he could see a looming red dot from a sniper scope on a high rise building.
At a window in the building, Hannes was holding a sniper rifle, providing ranged back up and controlling the situation from above.
“Seems like I have no choice.” Dorasi raised his hands with a long face and walked toward Vernina.
Bang!
Suddenly, an overturned burning car’s door flew off. A pair of hands grabbed the door frame and tore it with a piercing sound. Han Xiao walked out as he stretched his neck; his body was hurting all over from the crash.
Having been blown away by a howitzer out of nowhere, he was in a bad mood.
“There’s still an alive one?” Vernina turned around and fired at Han Xiao without changing her expression. Han Xiao reacted quickly. the Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor wrapped around his body as the howitzer hit him, and he was devoured by the flames.
Vernina thought that was more than enough to deal with the tiny fish that slipped through the net, but after the smoke disappeared, Han Xiao was still standing there, staring at her coldly. The expression in his eyes made her nervou
s.
In her career of battling through the ages, she had fought all kinds of strong enemies and developed a sharp intuition that could quickly identify the strength of the enemy. She could tell from just one look that these were the eyes of a predator!
Han Xiao had a horrible expression on his face when saw the information on the interface. The enemy was called Vernina. She was an astonishing LV 60 Cannon Master, which was the limit of version 1.0, someone who was at the top of the pyramid on Planet Aquamarine!
This was the second person after Bennett on Planet Aquamarine that was at the maximum level! But she didn’t have as many Molding Abilities as Bennett.
Vernina… the name sounds familiar, Han Xiao thought.
For such a high-level person to attack an official of Maple, there was definitely some hidden agenda. Han Xiao was involved by accident, but he did not want to be meddlesome, so he admitted his unluckiness.
Just as Han Xiao turned around, wanting to leave the place with his Hover-boots, Vernina fired again.
Clunk!
A howitzer hit Han Xiao at the back of his head and exploded on the armor, pushing him forward.
Han Xiao stopped in place immediately.
The next monument, the armor wrapped around his entire body. Han Xiao turned around and dashed toward Vernina. He pulled out the retractable knife and dished out a quick stab!
The Electromagnetic Hover-boots were at full power, so the speed of his dash was like a bullet.
Vernina hastily held up her grenade launcher as a shield.
Screech!
The dark black blade penetrated the grenade launcher. It cut the complicated mechanical structure inside and pierced into Vernina’s abdomen, causing blood to drip onto the ground.
Han Xiao’s hands let go of the blade, and he launched his fist toward Vernina’s temple. She hastily raised her arms to block. As the fist and her arm clashed, she felt an irresistible force of strength that hit her head across her bones. She then felt pain on her lower abdomen as Han Xiao kicked it.
“You forced me to do this!” Han Xiao gnashed his teeth.
I don’t want to bother with you, and now you’re taking it for granted!
After taking a few ruthless shots, he was furious!
Having been hit two times consecutively, Vernina was extremely shocked. She had thought that this agent was just a fish that slipped through the next, but it turned out to be an enormous shark!
She was a legend in the old era, and now she was suppressed by an enemy that she had never heard about‽
The opponent seemed to have the intention of escaping a few moments ago and looked like he did not want to be involved but was pissed off by her two shots. Vernina was filled with regret. A slip of the hand had resulted in a confrontation with such a strong enemy, but it was not her fault. The intelligence showed that the guards of Dorasi were all normal civilians, so she never could have guessed that one of them had been replaced with Han Xiao. She was truly unlucky.
He’s not Pugilist, and not an Esper either; he’s a Mechanic? Vernina was stunned, and she distanced herself hurriedly. Firearms were extremely powerful in her hands; even Mag from before would have to admit his defeat.
Han Xiao did not intend to engage in a shoot-out. He did not bring sniper for this mission, only two Berserk Eagles and some small machines. Thus, he chose close range combat by using Hover-boots to close their difference in swiftness and then suppress the opponent with his Strength. The Dexterity of Vernina was high, but Han Xiao had an advantage in Strength.
Also, flighting Vernina at a close range would make the sniper cautious and hesitant to shoot.
Chapter 188. Enemies everywhere |
The interface shows that Hannes was LV 60, too. Han Xiao realized that things were more complicated than he had initially thought. Two people at the maximum level in version 1.0 appearing at the same time definitely meant something significant—it might trigger a hidden storyline. Furthermore, these two people’s names sounded familiar, but Han Xiao could not remember at the time.
Han Xiao just wanted to focus on the mission from Bennett and make sure to complete it without any interference, but he was dragged into this matter, and being hit without fighting back was not his style.
Han Xiao dragged the battle to a close-range fight. Although Vernina was a Cannon Master, the level of her [Agent] sub class was very high, which meant she was not completely vulnerable in close combat. They exchanged blows again and again. Han Xiao was at an advantage because of his Strength. He would never hold back because of the opponent’s identity, gender, or age, so Vernina was at quite a disadvantage.
Both of their physical abilities exceeded normal people, a swing of their hands was more than enough to break apart bricks and penetrate through iron plates. The environment around them was destroyed, and the ground became full of pits. There was even an overturned car that Han Xiao had kicked away toward the tree—it was a mess. Dorasi stood by the side, not daring to escape because of the sniper.
Dorasi felt stupid. He had no idea there was such a strong superhuman hiding in his guards. Was this a secret arrangement of the secret services? But such a strong person would have been more than enough to even protect the highest ranked officials. Since when had he been treated even better than them‽
For now, Dorasi could only hope that this strong hidden person would be able to defeat the attackers, so he was extremely nervous.
Han Xiao was like gangrene. Vernina could not distance herself away at all, and she became more anxious as time passed.
“This agent is way too strong. Their backup will arrive soon. I’m stalled, Hannes, quickly help me!”
“He is too close to you, and you’re moving at a very high speed. There’s a fifty percent chance I will hit you instead,” Hannes said.
Vernina felt troubled. It was originally an easy mission, but with Han Xiao appearing, all the plans were ruined. The intelligence clearly showed Dorasi’s guards to be normal people. Where did this guy jump out of?
Hannes quickly came to a decision. “Retreat!”
It was at this time that the police sirens sounded. Police vehicles and the special operations unit closed in at high speed, and the sound of rotors appeared in the sky—two helicopters were circling above. The place was surrounded from every direction, and they had locked onto the two people that were fighting each other.
The emergency backup team had arrived. It had only been three to four minutes since Dorasi was attacked; they surely lived up to their team name.
Vernina clenched her teeth and used her back to take two punches from Han Xiao, moved with the force from the punches, and dashed into the encirclement while enduring piercing pain in her organs. The people of Maple fired continuously.
She was very agile, so she avoided the attacks by repeatedly sidestepping and found a safe route within the concentrated barrage. Even when she was hit, it only caused her single digit damage. The damage from normal people using normal firearms posed next to no threat to her.
As Han Xiao saw Vernina was about to escape the encirclement, he snatched a heavy sniper from one of the special operation soldiers, activated [Flaming Will], and hit Vernina’s shoulder.
Blood splashed.
Her footsteps stumbled, then she sped up again and disappeared in the darkness, leaving blood stains on the ground.
The majority of the team chased in their vehicles.
Han Xiao threw the gun away, feeling much better. There was no benefit in chasing. Injuring the opponent was enough, and he could not kill her anyway.
I’m on their side in Maple’s people’s eyes for now, but if I escape now, they might chase me too. Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled. He decided to stay in place and find the opportunity to escape when the police officers were not paying attention.
More troops arrived, and they started cleaning up the place. Dorasi was surrounded and taken care of by a doctor.
From the conversation between the police, Han Xiao knew that bot
h Vernina and Hannes had escaped, which was expected.
As he was leaning on a car, resting, a high-ranked officer walked in front of him and said in a low voice, “I’m Colonel Danny. You have done a good job, protecting Dorasi’s safety and not letting the kidnappers get their way.”
Han Xiao continued putting up a show. He acted calm and said, “It’s my job to do so.”
Danny looked at the street that was filled with pits, and slight shock appeared on his face. “Anguston, joined the army eleven years ago, trained as a special unit soldier for three years, took part in two military missions, kicked out of the special unit due to disciplinary issues, and joined the secret services to protect government officials. Your history is very common—never showed the strength of a superhuman,” he said.
Han Xiao shrugged and said, “People are constantly changing.”
Colonel Danny frowned. This was a very serious issue. This Anguston had been hiding his real strength. His motive was very suspicious and had to be checked thoroughly, but right now was not a good time.
Then, Dorasi came forward. “Good job, you saved me. I will let your superiors know about this and reward you for it.”
Dorasi knew that he had to keep a humble attitude after seeing Han Xiao’s strength. Such a strong superhuman was not like any other normal soldier he could just command around.
Han Xiao secretly observed Dorasi, thinking, What secret does this old government official have that interest two people that are LV 60?
After Dorasi showed his appreciation, he looked at Colonel Danny with a straight face and said, “What was the identity of the attackers?”
“We are still checking… Oh, they have found it.” Colonel Danny took the laptop from his assistant, but he was stunned with only one look.
“Vernina, former Raylen agent, currently decommissioned. She was once very active in the battlefields of the old era, was one of the shining legends of that era. She carried out more than one hundred highly dangerous missions, including assassinations, protection details, infiltrations, subverting governments, and so on. Today was her first appearance in decades, and her threat level is determined to be the highest.”
